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"THE TWELVE DECISIVE BATTLES OP ' WAR/' 



WILLIAM SWINTC , 

Authoi- " Campaigns of the Army of the Foto h 

1867. ^' 



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"THE TWELVE DECISIVE BATTLES OF THE WAR." 



\VILLIAM SWINTON. 



Author " Campaigns of the Army of the Potomac" etc. 







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An hour after noon of the 8th of March, 1862, a fleet of 
steamers was discovered by the Union lookout in Hampton 
Roads, descending the Elizabeth River, rounding Sewall's Point, 
and standing up towards Newport News. The signals were 
promptly made to the blockading squadron in that neighborhood, 
whereof two sailing vessels, the frigate Congress and the sloop-of- 
war Cumberland, were anchored off Newport News, and the re- 
mainder of the fleet near and about Fort Monroe, six miles distant. 
So soon as the tidings spread, the fine frigates Minnesota, Roanoke, 
and St. Lawrence got under way, slipped their cables, and, with 
the aid of tugs, moved up towards the approaching enemy. The 
gale of the previous day had abated, and there was but little 
wind or sea. As the Confederate fleet steamed steadily into 
view its character became apparent ; the central figure was the 
long-expected Merrimac, whose advent had been the theme of 
speculation through days and nights for many weeks, not only in 
the squadron which waited to receive her, but throughout rhe 
country. The cry of "the Merrimac ! the Merrimac!" speedily 
ran from ship to fort, and from fort to shore. To the curious 
eyes of the thousand spectators gazing intently from near, or 
peering through telescopes from afar, she seemed a grim-looking 
structure enough — like the roof of an immense building sunk to 
the eaves. Plafing around her, and apparently guiding her on, 
were two well-armed gun-boats, the Jamestown and Yorktown, 



formerly New York and Richmond packets, which seemed to act 
like pilot-fish to the sea-monster they attended. Smaller tugs 
and gun-boats followed in her wake, some of which had emerged 
from the James River. On she came, the Cumberland and Con- 
gress meanwhile bravely standing their ground; and, as the 
Merrimac approached the latter vessel she opened the battle with 
the angry roar of a few heavy guns. The Congress answered 
with a full broadside, and when the Merrimac, passing her, bore 
down upon the Cumberland, the latter, too, brought to bear upon 
her very available gun, in a well-delivered fire. To the chagrin 
of both vessels, their heaviest shot glanced as idly from the flanks 
of their antagonist as peas blown at the hide of a rhinoceros. 
Hot and terrific as was the firing that now took place, the contest 
could only be of short duration. With fell intent, the huge kra- 
ken, unharmed by the missiles rained upon her, bore down upon 
the Cumberland, and, striking that ill-fated vessel with her iron 
beak, under terrific momentum, rent a great gaping cavern in her 
side. In an instant it was seen that all was over with the Cum- 
berland. But, while the waters rushed into the yawning chasm, 
and while the ship sank lower and lower, her gallant crew, led by 
their heroic commander, Lieut. Morris, refused to quit their posts, 
and with loud cheers continued to pour their broadsides upon the 
gigantic enemy. As the guns touched the water they delivered a 
last volley : then down to her glorious grave went the good Cum- 
berland and her crew, with her flag still proudly waving at the 
mast-head. 

Meanwhile, the consorts of the Merrimac had furiously en- 
gaged the Congress with their heavy guns. Warned by the horrible 
fate of the Cumberland, she had been run aground in an effort to 
avoid being rammed by the Merrimac. But the latter, at half past 
two, coming up from the destruction of the Cumberland, took de- 
liberate position astern of the Congress, and raked her with a 
horrible fire of heavy shells. Another steamer attacked her briskly 



on the starboard quarter, and at length two more, an unneeded 
reinforcement, came up and poured in a fresh and constant fire. 
Nevertheless, until four o'clock the unequal, hopeless contest was 
maintained; and with each horrible crash of shell, the splinters 
flew out, and the dead fell to the deck of the dauntless Congress. 
She could bring to bear but five guns on her adversaries, and of 
these the shot skipped harmlessly from the iron hump of the dread 
monster who chiefly engaged her. At last, not a single gun was 
available; the ship was encircled by enemies; her decks were 
covered with dead and dying, for the slaughter had been terrible ; 
her commander had fallen ; she was on fire in several places ; 
every one of the approaching Union vessels had grounded ; no 
relief was possible; then, and then only, was the stubborn contest 
ended, and the flag of the Congress hauled down. 

And now, with the waters rolling over the Cumberland and 
with the Congress in flames, the Confederate dragon, still belching 
her fiery, sulphurous breath, turned greedy and grim to the rest of 
the Union Squadron. Arrived within a mile and a half of New- 
port News, the Minnesota grounded while the tide was running 
ebb, and there remained a helpless spectator of the sinking of the 
Cumberland and the burning of the Congress. The Roanoke, 
following after, grounded in her turn ; more fortunate, with the 
aid of tugs, she got off again, and, her propeller being useless, 
withdrew down the harbor. In fine, the St. Lawrence grounded 
near the Minnesota. At four o'clock, the Merrimac, Jamestown, 
and Yorktown, bore down upon the latter vessel ; but the huge 
couching monster, which in a twinkling would have visited upon 
her the fate of the Cumberland, could not, from her great draft, 
approach within a mile of the stranded prey. She took position 
on the starboard bow of the Minnesota, and opened with her pon- 
derous battery; yet with so little accuracy, that only one shot was 
effective, that passing through the Union steamer's bow. As for 
her consorts, they took position on the port bow and stern of the 



6 

Minnesota, and with their heavy rifled ordnance played severely 
upon the vessel, and killed and wounded many men. The Merri- 
mac, meanwhile, gave a share of her favors to the St. Lawrence, 
which had just grounded near the Minnesota, and had opened an 
ineffectual fire. One huge shell penetrated the starboard quarter 
of the St. Lawrence, passed through the ship to the port side, 
completely demolished a bulk-head, struck against a strong iron 
bar, and returned unexploded into the wardroom ; such were the 
projectiles which the Merrimac was flinging into wooden frigates. 
Very soon the St. Lawrence got afloat by the aid of a tug, and was 
ordered back to Fort Monroe. The grounding of the Minnesota 
had prevented the use of her battery, but at length a heavy gun 
was brought to bear upon the two smaller Confederate steamers, 
with marked effect. As for the lo-inch pivot gun, its heavy shot 
were harmless against the Merrimac. Thus the afternoon wore 
on, till with the parting day died the fury of battle; at length at 
seven o'clock, to the great relief of the Union Squadron, all three 
Confederate vessels hauled off and steamed back to Norfolk. 

So ended the first day's battle in Hampton Roads. What wild 
excitement, what grief, what anxiety, what terrible foreboding for 
the morrow possessed the Union Squadron when night fell, cannot 
be described. All was panic, confusion, and consternation. That 
the Merrimac would renew the battle in the morning was too 
evident, and the result must be the destruction of a part of the 
fleet, the dispersion of the rest, and the loss of the harbor of 
Hampton Roads. Her first victim would be the Minnesota, now 
helplessly aground off Newport News ; next, whatever vessel 
might be brave or rash enough to put itself in her way ; whether 
she would then pause to reduce Fort Monroe ; or, passing it by, 
would run along the Northern coast, carrying terror to the national 
capital, or making her dread apparition in the harbor of New 
York, was uncertain. The commander of the Fort, General Wool, 
telegraphed to Washington that probably both the Minnesota and 



the St. Lawrence would be captured, and that " it was thought 
that the Merrimac, Jamestown, and Yorktown will pass the fort 
to-night." Meanwhile, that ofificer admitted that, should the 
Merrimac prefer to attack the fort, it would be only a question of 
a few days when it must be abandoned. 

It was upon such a scene that the little Monitor quietly made 
her appearance at eight o'clock in the evening, having left the 
harbor of New York two days before. Long before her arrival at 
the anchorage in Hampton Roads the sound of heavy guns was 
distinctly heard on board, and shells were seen to burst in the air. 
The chagrined officers of the Monitor conceived it to be an attack 
upon Norfolk, for which they were too late, and the ship was urged 
more swiftly along. At length a pilot boarded her, and half 
terror-stricken, gave a confused account of the Merrimac's foray. 
The response was a demand upon him to put the Monitor along- 
side the Merrimac ; terrified at which, the moment the Roanoke 
was reached he jumped into his boat and ran away. The 
appearance of the Monitor did little to abate the consternation 
prevailing. That so insignificant a structure could cope with the 
giant Merrrimac was not credited ; and those who had anxiously 
watched for her arrival, for she had been telegraphed as having 
left New York, gazed with blank astonishment, maturing to 
despair, at the puny affair before them. Her total weight was 
but nine hundred tons, while that of the Merrimac was five thou- 
sand ; what had yonder giant to fear from this dwarf.? A telegram 
from Washington had ordered the Monitor to be sent thither the 
moment she arrived ; but this of course was now disregarded, and 
the senior officer of the Squadron, Captain Marston, of the 
Roanoke, authorized Lieutenant Worden to take the Monitor up 
to the luckless Minnesota and protect her. 

It was a memorable night. In fort, on shipboard and on shore, 
Federals and Confederates alike could not sleep from excitement ; 
these were flushed with triumph and wild with anticipation, those 



were oppressed with anxiety or touched the depths of despair. 
Norfolk was ablaze with the victory, and the sailors of the Mer- 
rimac and her consorts caroused with its grateful citizens. In 
Hampton Roads, amidst the bustle of the hour, some hopeless 
preparations were made for the morrow. The Monitor, on reach- 
ing the Roanoke, found the decks of the flagship sanded and all 
hands at quarters, resolved, though destruction stared them in the 
face, to go down in a hard fight. Her sister-ship still lay aground 
off Newport News, tugs toiling all night painfully but uselessly to 
set her afloat again : meanwhile, a fresh supply of ammunition was 
sent to her. x\s for the officers and crew of the Monitor, though 
worn out by their voyage from New York, they had little mind 
for sleep, and passed much of the night in forecasting the issue of 
the coming day. The stories poured into their ears respecting 
the armor and battery of the Merrimac had not dismayed them, 
or weakened their confidence in their own vessel ; yet, as the 
officers had not been long enough on her to learn her qualities, 
nor the men to be drilled at the guns and at quarters, the guns, 
the turrets, the engines, the gear, and everything else, were care- 
fully examined, and proved to be in working order. 

While thus in toil and expectation the night-hours passed, an 
entrancing spectacle illumined the waters around. The landscape, 
a short distance off, in the direction of Newport News, was bril- 
liantly lighted by the flames of the burning Congress. Ever and 
anon a shotted gun, booming like a signal of distress, startled the 
air around the ill-fated ship, when its charge had been ignited by 
the slowly-spreading flames. Ten hours now, the ship had been 
burning ; and at one o'clock in the night, the fire reached the maga- 
zine, which blew up with an explosion heard more than fifty miles 
away. At once, in a gorgeous pyrotechny, huge masses of burn- 
ing timber rose and floated in the air, and strewed the waters far 
and wide with the glowing debris of the wreck : then succeeded 
a sullen and ominous darkness, in which the flickering of the 



embers told that the course of the Congress was nearly run. 
Meanwhile, the dark outline of the mast and yards of the Cum- 
berland was projected in bold relief on the illumined sky. Her 
ensign, never hauled down to the foe, still floated in its accus- 
tomed place, and there swayed slowly and solemnly to and fro, 
with a requiem-gesture all but human, over the corpses of the 
hundreds of brave fellows who went down with their ship. 

At six o'clock on the morning of March 9th, the officer on 
watch on the Minnesota made out the Merrimac through the 
morning mist, as she approached from Sewall's Point. She was 
up betimes for her second raid, in order to have a long day for 
the work. Quickly the Monitor was notified, and got up her 
anchor ; the iron hatches were then battened down, and those 
below depended on candles for their light, it was a moment of 
anxiety on the little craft, for there had been no time for drilling 
the men, except in firing a few rounds to test the compressors 
and the concussion, and all that the officers themselves, who 
were now to fight the ship, knew of the operation of the turret 
and guns, they learned from the two engineers who were attached 
to the vessel, and who had superintended her construction. 
When the great smoke-pipe and sloping casement of the Con- 
federate came clearly into view, it was evident that the latter 
had been smeared with tallow to assist in glancing off the shots. 
As she came down from Craney Island, the Minnesota beat to 
quarters ; but the Merrimac passed her and ran down near to the 
Rip Raps, when she turned into the channel by which the Minne- 
sota had come. Her aim was to capture the latter vessel, and 
take her to Norfolk, where crowds of people lined the wharves, 
elated with success, and waiting to see the Minnesota led back as 
a prize. When the Merrimac had approached within a mile, the 
little Monitor came out from under the Minnesota's quarter, ran 
down in her wake to within short range of the Merrimac, "com- 
pletely covering my ship," says Captain Van Brunt, " as far as 



10 

was possible with her diminutive dimensions, and, much to my 
astonishment, laid herself right alongside of the Merrimac." As- 
tounded as the Merrimac was at the miraculous appearance of so 
odd a fish, the gallantry with which the Monitor had dashed into 
the very teeth of its guns was not less surprising. It was Goliath 
to David ; and with something of the coat-of-mailed Philistine's 
disdain, the Merrimac looked down upon the pigmy which had 
thus undertaken to champion the Minnesota. A moment more 
and the contest began. The Merrimac let fly against the turret 
of her opponent two or three such broadsides as had finished the 
Cumberland and Congress, and would have finished the Minne- 
sota; but her heavy shot, rattling against the iron cylinder, rolled 
off even as the volleys of her own victims had glanced from the 
casement of the Merrimac ; then it was that the word of astonish- 
ment was passed, " the Yankee cheese-box is made of iron ! " 

The duel commenced at eight o'clock on Sunday morning, 
and was waged with ferocity till noon. So eager and so confident 
was each antagonist, that often the vessels touched each other, 
iron rasping against iron, and through most of the battle they 
wefe distant but a few yards. Several times, while thus close 
alongside, the Merrimac let loose her full broadside of six guns, 
and the armor and turret of the little Monitor was soon covered with 
dents. The Merrimac had, for those days, a very formidable 
battery, consisting of two y^^-inch rifles, employing twenty-one 
pound charges, and four 9-inch Dahlgrens, in each broadside. 
Yet often her shot, striking, broke and were scattered about the 
Monitor's decks in fragments, afterwards to be picked up as 
trophies. The Monitor was struck in pilot-house, in turret, in 
side armor, in deck. But, with their five inches of iron, backed 
by three feet of oak, the crew were safe in a perfect panoply ; 
while from the impregnable turret the 11 -inch guns answered 
back the broadsides of the Merrimac. 



11 

However, on both sides, armor gained the victory over * guns ; 
for, unprecedented as was the artillery employed, it was for the 
first time called upon to meet iron, and was unequal to the task. 
Even the Monitor's ii-inch ordnance, though it told heavily 
against the casement of the Merrimac, often driving in splinters, 
could not penetrate it. So excited were the combatants at first, 
and so little used to their guns, that the latter were elevated too 
much, and most of the missiles were wasted in the air; but, later 
in the fight, they began to depress their guns; and then it was 
that one of the Monitor's shot, hitting the junction of the case- 
ment with the side of the ship, caused a leak. A shot, also, flying 
wide, passed through the boiler of one of the Merrimac's tenders, 
enveloping her in steam, and scalding many of her crew, so that 
she was towed off by her consort. But, in general, on both ships 
the armor defied the artillery. f It is this fact which contains the 
key to the prolonged contest of that famous morning. The chief 
engineer of the Monitor, Mr. Isaac Newton, questioned afterwards 
by the War Committee of Congress, why the battle was not more 
promptly decided against the Merrimac, answered: — "It was due 
to the fact that the power and endurance of the ii-inch Dahlgren 
guns, with which the Monitor was armed, were not known at the 
time of the battle ; hence the commander would scarcely have 
been justified in increasing the charge of powder above that au- 
thorized in the Ordnance Manual. Subsequent experiments de- 

* Extract from an official letter from Admiral Dalhgren, to Hon. Gideon 
Welles, Secretary of the Navy, November 20th, 1864. 

"When the rebel ram Merrimac issued forth and inflicted such grievous 
" damage at Hampton Roads, she was driven back by the Monitor's two 
" ii-inch guns, and never ventured on another trial. 

" The Merrimac was obliged to endure the blockade of the Monitor, 
"and never dared to venture to the conflict; her commander preferred to 
" sink her and did so." 

f See Captain Byer's statement, page 24. 



12 

veloped the important fact that these guns could be fired with 
thirty pounds of cannon powder, with solid shot. If this had 
been known at the time of the action, I am clearly of opinion that, 
from the close quarters at which Lieutenant Worden fought his 
vessel, the enemy would have been forced to surrender. It will, 
of course be admitted by every one, that if but a single 15-inch 
gun could possibly have been mounted within the Monitor's 
turret (it was planned to carry the heaviest ordnance), the action 
would have been as short and decisive as the combat between 
the monitor Weehawken, Captain John Rodgers, and the rebel 
iron-clad Atlanta, which, in several respects, was superior to the 
Merrimac." He added that, as it was, but for the injury received 
by Lieut. Worden (of which hereafter), that vigorous officer would 
very likely have " badgered " the Merrimac to a surrender. 

The Minnesota lay at a distance, viewing the contest with un- 
disguised wonder. " Gun after gun," says Captain Van Brunt, 
" was fired by the Monitor, which was returned with whole broad- 
sides from the rebels, with no more effect, apparently, than so 
many pebble stones thrown by a child . . . clearly establishing 
the fact that wooden vessels cannot contend with iron clad ones ; 
for never before was anything like it dreamed of by the greatest 
enthusiast in maritime warfare." Despairing of doing anything 
with the impregnable little Monitor, the Merrimac now sought to 
avoid her, and threw a shell at the Minnesota which tore four 
rooms into one in its passage, and set the ship on fire. A second 
shell exploded the boiler of the tug-boat Dragon, But by the 
time she had fired the third shell, the little Monitor had come 
down upon her, placing herself between them. Angry at this in- 
terruption, the Merrimac turned fiercely on her antagonist, and 
bore down swiftly against the Monitor with intent to visit upon 
her the fate of the Cumberland. The shock was tremen- 
dous, nearly upsetting the crew of the Monitor from their feet ; 
but it only left a trifling dent in her side armor and some 



13 

splinters of the Merrimac to be added to the visitor's trophies. 

It was now that a shell from the Merrimac, striking the Moni- 
tor's pilot-house, which was built of solid wrought-iron bars, nine 
by twelve inches thick, actually broke one of these great logs, and 
pressed it inward an inch and an half. The gun which fired this 
shell was not more than thirty feet off, as the Merrimac then lay 
across the Monitor's bow. At that moment Lieut. Worden, the 
commander, and his quartermaster, were both looking through a 
sight-aperture or conning-hole, which consisted of a slit between 
two of the bars, and the quartermaster, seeing the gunners in the 
Merrimac training their piece on the pilot house, dropped his head, 
calling out a sudden warning, but at that instant the shot struck 
the aperture level with the face of the gallant Worden, and inflict- 
ed upon him a severe wound. His eyesight for the time and for 
long after was gone, his face badly disfigured, and he was forced 
to turn over his command to Lieut. Greene, who hitherto had 
been firing the guns. Chief Engineer Stimers, who had been con- 
spicuously efficient and valuable all day by his skillful operation 
of the turret and by the encouragement and advice he gave to the 
gunners, thereby increasing the effective service of the guns, now 
personally took charge of the latter, and commenced a well- 
directed fire. 

However, with the wounding of Worden, the contest was sub- 
stantially over, a few well-depressed shots rang against the cuirass 
of the Merrimac, and the latter despairing of subduing her eager 
and obstinate antagonist, after four hours of fierce effort, aband- 
oned the fight, and with her two consorts, steamed away for Nor- 
folk, to tell her vexation to the disappointed throng of spectators, 
and then to go into dock for repairs. 

The great misfortune the Monitor had experienced in the loss 
of her determined commander prevented her from pursuing, and 
forcing the battle to a surrender. But, left in possession of the 
field, the little vessel could hardly believe at first that her enemy 



14 

had beat a retreat ; but greater were the surprise and relief of the 
Minnesota, which, unable to expect a successful issue to the con- 
test, had made all the usual preparations for abandoning the ship, 
and had laid a train to her magazine. The rest of the squadron 
in whose cause this timely champion had flung down the gauntlet 
and entered the lists, together with the troops in the forts, found 
equal cause for gratitude. Cheers and congratulations rose up on 
all hands, and the' enthusiasm was as great as had been the de- 
pression of the previous day. The joyous news was flashed 
through the North, and now from Congress, now from Chambers 
of Commerce and Boards of Trade, now from public meetings and 
societies convened for the purpose, thanks and laudations were 
poured upon the Monitor, Ericsson, her inventor, Worden, her 
commander, Greene, her executive officer, Newton, her chief en- 
gineer, Stimers, the engineer detailed to accompany and report 
on her, and who worked the turret, all the officers in short, and 
the crew shared the honors. The President, members of his 
cabinet, many of the diplomatic corps, officers of both services 
and many ladies too, crowded to see the new engine of warfare 
and to view with their own eyes the place of the conflict of Hamp- 
ton Roads. 



^mxlk 4 fempton ; \on&§, 



II. 



The Monitor and the Merrimac have long since run their 
course, and shared the fate of the Cumberland and Congress ; but 
the influence of their desperate struggle in Hampton Roads, ever- 
widening from that day onward, has extended all over the globe. 
The results of this battle were both national and international, 
belonging on the one hand to the Southern insurrection, but on 
the other hand to the naval science of all nations, the ratio of 
whose maritime supremacies it readjusted. 

Had the Merrimac continued the triumphant career which she 
began, it is difficult to compute her possible devastation. During 
the present generation at least, the emotions which thrilled 
America, north and south, at the receipt of the tidings of Hamp- 
ton Roads cannot be forgotten ; the surprise, the joy, the triumph, 
the measureless hopes which filled the South, the anxiety, the con- 
sternation, the dread forebodings which swept over the North. 
Beginning with the Minnesota, which she would quickly overcome, 
the Merrimac, let loose among the Union fleet in Hampton Roads, 
would have burst through it like an avenging fury, destroying 
everything in its course, and scattering all that it did not destroy. 
How powerless indeed the wooden fleet would have been <against 
this one mailed monster, the story of the first day's battle tells. 
With the Union fleet dispersed or led captive to grace its triumphs, 
the Merrimac would have remained the monarch of Hampton 
Roads. The blockade would have been raised, and a great ocean 



16 

highway thrown open at the very threshold of the Confederate 
capital. The tenure of Fort Monroe would have been insecure ; 
for it was generally declared that, at that time, with the whole 
Union fleet, transports and all, driven off, the reduction of the 
fort by the Merrimac and her various consorts, armed as they 
were with very heavy ordnance, would be but a question of days. 
What loss of men and material, what loss of strategic position, 
and above all prestige, would have ensued to the Union arms 
from such a disaster, it is easy to appreciate. Moreover, the pos- 
session of Hampton Roads and by consequence of the James and 
York Rivers would have ruined the campaign set afoot by Gen- 
eral McClellan for the capture of Richmond, and by forcing the 
choice of a different line of operations, would have changed the 
whole military as well as the whole naval history of the war. 
Nor is it McClellan's campaign alone which would have been 
thwarted, but all subsequent campaigns, requiring a base on the 
James, or the York, or the Appomattox, as long as those waters 
were in Confederate keeping. In other words, it would have 
blocked up the chief or the only practicable line of operations 
against the Confederate capital; for as to overland campaigns, 
their errors were illustrated by a series of experiments growing 
more sanguinary and more fatal, from first to last, until they were 
forever abandoned : what, then, if the water approaches to Rich- 
mond, had been kept open to its use ? 

Such would have been the possibilities had the Merrimac 
found no Monitor to dispute the mastery of Hampton Roads, even 
had she been content to stay within the confines of the watery 
realm she had conquered. Suppose, however, that, after achiev- 
ing her other conquests, she had ran out to sea.'' In a northerly 
course, what had prevented her from steaming up the Potomac, 
to the terror of the National Capital, or barred her from the har- 
bor of New York itself, there to sweep through the shipping, cap- 
turing or destroying at her fancy, and laying under contribution 



17 

the chief commercial city of the Union ? Or, turning southward, 
what had hindered her from breaking the.blockade of other ports, 
as she had broken that of Norfolk, and in such a stroke what de- 
cisive triumph was there not for the South, what depth of disaster 
for the North ? 

The circle of possible results again enlarges; for, with such 
Confederate naval successes, foreign nations must have ultimately 
inclined to recognition and support of the Confederacy. The 
Merrimac's operations would, as their least results, have supplied 
the Confederacy with whatever arms or munitions of war or other 
products or fabrics she might require ; but, beyond that, the block- 
ade itself would have been so compromised, as no longer to com- 
mand the respect of nations which, hostile from national policy 
to the Union, waited no aggravated pretext for turning the scale 
against it. Never were the prospects of the Confederacy for 
foreign aid brighter than in the spring of 1862; and so strongly 
was this truth felt at the North, as well as at the South, that the 
mere presence of Admiral Milne's British fleet in the St. Lawrence 
was looked upon with distrust and trepidation, and with many pro- 
phecies that it was stationed there to take advantage of the first 
successful breaking of the blockade. Angry words must have 
been exchanged with France and England, words would have been 
followed by blows, the Confederacy would have received the alli- 
ance of one or both of these countries, and the republic have 
been forever rent in twain. 

Thus much of what might have been the issue of the battle of 
Hampton Roads but for the Monitor. This aspect seems the 
graver on reflecting that, had the North resorted to the broad- 
side system of iron-clads, of which the New Ironsides was an ex- 
ample, then not to speak of draft, or thickness of armor, or calibre 
of battery, or expense of construction, or any other of those re- 
spects in which the Monitor system proclaims its excellence, the 
mere time required in their building would have been fatal to the 
2 



18 

cause of the Union, Not only would the Merrimac have accom- 
plished all that was expected of her, but she would have been re- 
inforced by other iron-clads, to double or treble her work of de- 
struction ; for the Confederate Government started in advance of 
the National Government in iron-clad construction, and the suc- 
cess of the Merrimac would have caused the hurrying to com- 
pletion of the other similar craft already begun. Thus, long 
before a fleet of broadside iron-clads, long before a single one 
even could have been made ready, the sceptre of naval supremacy, 
and therewith National Independence, would have passed into 
the hands of the South. But now we must turn to the actual 
issue of the battle of Hampton Roads. 

The immediate result of the conflict between the Monitor and 
the Merrimac was obviously enough the overthrow of the great 
projects conceived by the latter vessel, the salvation of the Union 
squadron, and the preservation of the blockade and of Fort 
Monroe. Its wider result was to furnish to the Union a new 
engine of warfare, which, rapidly and cheaply constructed, proved 
impregnable in defence and irresistible in attack. The Confed- 
erate vessels, ingenious, formidable, and fatal to any but the 
monitors, were yet hopelessly inferior to these. While the prin- 
ciple on which the original monitor was constructed, remained 
fixed, and was reproduced in her successors. Soon, therefore, 
the Union navy possessed a full fleet of Monitors. With these it 
maintained a blockade which otherwise could not have been 
maintained, as at Charleston and Savannah ; with them it con- 
quered again and again powerful Confederate casemated iron-clads, 
like the Atlanta and the Tennessee ; with them it withstood the 
fire of some of the heaviest artillery known to modern warfare, 
and in return, silenced the enormous earthworks in which that 
artillery was planted, as at Fort Fisher. In fine, the Monitor met 
to the full all the requirements of the war, whether in the passive 
duty of blockade, or in the active one of sinking hostile ships 
and capturing hostile citadels. 



19 

There was another office, too, besides the overthrow of its 
immediate enemies, which the Monitor performed for the Union. 
The 15-inch gun in the impregnable Monitor turret, mutters with 
its deep voice, " hands off," to whatever transatlantic nation 
might before have meditated an interference in the American 
War. Before the rapidity of the achievement was comprehended, 
a squadron of monitors patrolled the Atlantic seaboard, capable 
of destroying any fleet that might challenge entrance to its harbors. 
The lesson was not lost upon foreign ministers, who inclined to 
think twice before encountering this new and terrible engine of 
defence. 

The story of the battle in Hampton Roads created the pro- 
foundest sensation in the court of every maritime nation. For 
months, not only the scientific but the popular journals were 
filled with the discussion of its merits and its meaning; the pro- 
fessional naval world was profoundly agitated ; Admiralty Boards 
and Ministers of Marine conned its details ; in fine, Russia and 
Sweden promptly accepted the Monitor as the solution of the 
naval problem of the age, and followed the lead of America in re- 
constructing their navies on that system. France and England 
had, unfortunately for themselves, been committed to the broad- 
side iron-clad before the introduction of the Monitor, and the 
enormous sums already laid out, (enough to build many squad- 
rons of Monitors), joined to some national pride, and, in the case 
of England at least, reenforced by a wondrous obstinacy of depre- 
ciation only to be understood when one reads such histories as 
that of the screw-propeller — these causes prevented the renuncia- 
tion in France and England of their iron-clad navies already 
built, and the substitution of the turreted Monitor. However, in 
both countries, the combat of the 9th of March was received with 
the profoundest study, and was regarded as the death-stroke to 
wooden war-vessels. In England, on hearing the news of the 
battle, the House of Commons, in obedience to general sentiment, 



20 

stopped at once the great military project of building forts at 
Spithead for the defence of Portsmouth. The Defence Commis- 
sion, too, was hastily reassembled for the special purpose of con- 
sidering the effect of the " recent engagement that has taken place 
in the Chesapeake between the naval forces of the United States 
and the Confederates," on the erection of these forts. The Royal 
Commission found " the expression of opinion which followed the 
action of the Merrimac and Monitor," and the " doubts that took 
possession of the public mind " thereupon to be " not unreason- 
able." But when, notwithstanding these doubts, the Commission 
had the hardihood to recommend the construction of the forts, 
the government, again menaced by the House of Commons, was 
forced to abandon this position, and the proposed Spithead forts 
were given up, reliance being had for defence, in the future, upon 
iron-clad vessels. 

The War of the Rebellion ended, America found that in her 
Monitor system she had gained an advantage over every other 
nation on the globe. While the enormous outlays of Great Britain 
and France had produced a series of vessels which, according to 
simple scientific calculations, could not attempt to withstand a 
first-class Monitor, she, at a trifling co^t, had secured an iron 
fleet, which, having performed inestimable service in quelling the 
insurrection, now furnished an impregnable defence to her coast 
from hostile invasion. The heavy rolling of broadside iron-clads, 
even in comparatively smooth seas, exposes their hulls below the 
armor to a hostile shot in a vital point; and, in addition, not only 
subjects the gun-ports to a liability of water rushing into them, 
but obviously renders accurate gunnery impossible. Again, it is 
impossible to build a broadside iron-clad of any practicable size 
which can be covered with armor sufficient to resist modern ar- 
tillery, and the result is the adoption of the "central fort system," 
which covers the vessel with iron only amidships, and leaves the 
rest to be shot through and through : yet, even the thickest parts 



21 

can be penetrated by the Monitor's guns. Finally, there comes 
the difficulty of working in broadside anything like the heavy 
guns used in the Monitor. In a word, to say nothing of the mon- 
strous size and unwieldiness, of the enormous cost, of the imprac- 
ticable draft, of the English broadside ships, the very best of them 
could be shot through in their most heavily-armed parts by the 
tremendous ordnance of the Monitors, whilst a great part of them 
is not protected at all. On the other hand, their heaviest missiles 
would rattle idly from the impregnable Puritan or Dictator as if 
they were but pebble stones. 

The Monitor is, in its nature, one of those radical expressions 
of a scientific idea which do not admit further change in principle. 
It was not the result of a ship-builder's experiment, no lucky 
guess or happy accident, but a calculated product, wrought out 
in the endeavor to solve a problem then engaging the mind of 
the chief naval powers of the world. The transatlantic methods 
employed on that intricate question do not complete the require- 
ments of the problem. We have already seen how, in order to 
produce the maximum impregnability, the hull of the Monitor was 
permitted to protrude but a few inches above water, and her decks 
were stripped of bulwarks and all other unnecessary appendages. 
Thus, while the Warrior, a vessel of 10,000 tons total displace- 
ment, can only support about four and a half inches of armor, 
and that for only about half her length, the little harbor-monitors 
of the Passaic class, designed simply for coast defence, though 
only about one-fifth the Warrior's size, carry armor nearly 
twice as thick from stem to stern. As for the heavy Dictators 
and Puritans, though but half as large as the Warrior, their armor 
is more than thrice as thick as that of the English ship in its 
thickest part, and that throughout their entire lengths. Then, on 
the other hand, it was desirable to mount heavier guns in the new 
vessel than had ever before been carried, or had ever before been 
provided against, or could be provided against except on the Moni- 
2* 



22 

tor system. Thence sprang the device of the cylindrical turret 
which, being revolved on its periphery by steam-power, could 
adroitly turn its port-holes to any point in the horizon. Nor was this 
turret complete in its operation till so built that it formed a water- 
tight joint with its deck. Within this impregnable floating castle 
the power of the enclosed artillery is only limited by the genius 
of the gun-maker; for the turret is an impervious gun-carriage, 
which, operated by mechanism, can carry ordnance of any size, 
and only waits for the limit to which the art of gunsmithery shall 

go- 
Should it happen that, while the United States adopts the 
monitor war-vessels, her maritime rivals remain content with those 
of the broadside pattern, the successful initiation of the former 
in the battle of Hampton Roads will hate resulted in giving to 
America the supremacy of the seas. But should it happen, as is 
far more likely, that sooner or later, and by gradual steps, England 
and France shall be forced to copy the Monitor, with such petty 
modifications as may soothe national pride, then, as iron-clad 
vessels have revolutionized naval warfare, so monitors in turn will 
revolutionize the warfare of iron-clads; and the pigmy warrior of 
Hampton Roads will have dictated reconstruction to the navies 
of the world. 

In these modern days of ours, mechanism has made vast in- 
roads on the domain of ftiorale, and nations which once ruled the 
seas by virtue of the courage and skill of their sailors, and by 
national pride and training in marine enterprise, have found their 
prestige swept away. Mechanism usurps the offices once performed 
by men. In this era of mechanical warfare, it is idle to expect 
moral excellence to supply the lack of material strength. With 
equal advantages, indeed, the former will pluck victory from any 
battle, but material superiority itself supplies confidence, and how- 
ever brave the assailant, he may find he is dashing his head 
against a rock. Naval war still more than war on the land is a 



23 

question of science, and we cannot expect bravery to accomplish 
miracles or to reverse the conclusions of natural laws. So found 
the Niagara, when off Lisbon she encountered the Stonewall. 
Nor is it always enough to have iron hearts in wooden walls. It 
is a curious speculation what might have been the result of the 
Southern insurrection, had the Confederacy possessed, and the 
Union lacked, mechanical geniuses who would have furnished her 
novel implements and engines of destruction. Had some skillful 
brain armed her troops with a cheap breech-loading rifle ; had 
some Ericsson equipped her with a fleet of monitors, while the 
North was laboring at tardily-constructed broadside iron-clads ; 
or supplied her with floating batteries not the less terrible in power 
because they avoided the use of expensive engines ; or protected 
her rivers and so the great cities lying thereon ; or given her 
some perfect torpedo capable of clearing all her blockaded har- 
bors ; in short, had scientific devices made up for want of re- 
sources, by i-nventions suited to the humble capacities of the 
South, what might not have been the issue ? War grows to be 
each day an exacter science. A nation, arming itself with a 
needle-gun, confidently rushes upon its neighbor twice as strong 
in numbers and resources, and, at a thought, brings the great 
rival's knee to the dust. Nations can be made or undone at the 
desk of an engineer. 



itaiement wlHtmg to"|lemmHc/>k 



Captain James Byers, of Buffalo, N. Y., was at Norfolk, from 
September, i860, to the 8th day of May, 1862, Master of steam 
tug J. B. White, built at Buffalo by Geo. Notter. He was em- 
ployed by the contractors building the Albemarle Canal. The 
Merrimac was sunk by the Federals near the Navy Yard, previous 
to the evacuation of Norfolk, to avoid her falling into the hands of 
the Confederates. She was raised for the Confederates by Baker 
Bros., wreckers, and put into the dock at Norfolk, cut down and 
fitted up — a heavy frame of wood covered with heavy plate iron. 
They worked on her night and day. She was armed with four 
heavy guns on each side, one on bow and one aft — ten heavy 
guns in all. 

She went out on Saturday, the 8th of March, 1862, under com- 
mand of Admiral Buchanan, and sunk the Cumberland and Con- 
gress on that date. 

I saw the fight from the deck of my steamer. She also ex- 
changed shots with the Minnesota, which was aground on the 
middle ground in Hampton Roads, half way between Sewell's 
Point and Newport News. The Merrimac could have easily de- 
stroyed the Minnesota on Saturday, (March 8th,) but they did not 
wish to harm her — she would be too valuable to them as a prize. 
They felt sure of her on the morrow, with all the qfher craft in 
the Roads and at anchor off Fortress Monroe 



"25 

The Merrimac retired for the night, and anchored off Sewell's 
Point until next morning. In her encounter with the Cumberland 
and Congress, a shot from one of the guns of the Cumberland en- 
tered the muzzle of the bow gun of the Merrimac, bursting the 
gun and killing seven men. ( Gjyu4/^\ t-'V V^JX^y^ O^f^ f>:^ y 

Sunday, March 9th, the Merrimac hove up and steamed out 
to "finish up" the work of destruction and capture left undone 
the day before. The day was clear and pleasant, the sun shining 
brightly, with little or no wind. Some Confederate officers and 
citizens of Norfolk, came on board my steamer at Norfolk, and 
ordered me to get under way and run out to see the Merrimac 
finish up. We ran down off Craney Island, and from our deck 
saw the fight between the Monitor and Merrimac. The Confed- 
erates were all in high spirits, anticipating an easy victory. They 
talked very freely over the mission and marked programme of the 
Merrimac. She was to capture the Minnesota and all the vessels 
in the Roads, and then to proceed to New York and other Eastern 
cities. There was no doubt about the result, and that she would 
go where she wished, with impunity to herself. 

We had been off Craney Island about half an hour, in plain 
sight of Hampton Roads and the different craft there. We saw 
the Merrimac, and presently the Monitor came out and attacked 
her. We could not tell what the Monitor was — nothing had ever 
been known of her in Norfolk, and it was all speculation what she 
was. The fight was watched with great interest. Soon there 
began to be doubts about the result. Some Confederate officers 
who had been down nearer than we were, came back, and in pass- 
ing told us that the unknown craft was a " wicked thing" and we 
better not get too near her. One of the shots from one of the com- 
batants came skipping over the water very near us, from nearly a 
mile distant. 

We stayed there until the fight was over. The Merrimac 
came back into the river badly disabled, and almost in a sinking 



26 

condition. Tugs had to be used to get her into the dry dock at 
the Navy Yard, the crew pumping and bailing water with all their 
might to keep her afloat. I saw her in the dock at Norfolk next 
day, was on board of her and made a personal examination of the 
ship. The effect of the Monitor's guns upon the Merrimac was 
terrible. Her plated sides were broken in, the iron plating rent 
and broken, the massive timbers of her sides crushed; and the 
officers themselves stated that she could not have withstood the 
effect of the Monitor's guns any longer, and that they barely es- 
caped in time from her.* 

The Merrimac lay in dry dock repairing and strengthening for 
six weeks, when she was again put afloat under the command of 
Admiral Tattnall. After the Merrimac was repaired and came 
out of dock, the only thing she did was to form part of an expedi- 
tion to go out into the Roads to attempt to capture the Monitor. 
The expedition was made up of the Merrimac and two tugs, 
manned by thirty volunteers on each tug boat. They were all 
armed and provided with iron wedges and top mauls and tar balls. 
The plan was to board her, a tug on each side landing the men, 
and throwing lighted tar balls down through the ventilators and 
wedge up the turret so it would not revolve. They took my 
steamer as one of the boats, but I refused to command her or go 
with her. The Monitor, luckily for them, did not come out over 
the bar to give them a chance to try the experiment. The pound- 
ing which the Monitor gave the Merrimac the latter never re- 
covered from. They lost faith in her. 

I ran the blockade on the 8th day of May, 1862, escaping 
with my steamer, the J. B. White, to Fortress Monroe, where I 
met President Lincoln with some of his Cabinet, giving him the 



* This was the time when the Monitor retired a few minutes to get some 
more shot from below into the turret. — Note by E. P. D. 



27 

first information he had of the true state of affairs at Norfolk, and 
the preparations made by the rebels to evacuate it. 

Admiral Tattnall blew up the Merrimac off Craney Island 
shortly afterwards — a fitting end to a gallant but unfortunate ship 
in the service she was last engaged in. 

JAMES BYERS. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



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